This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/9/2023
CHUNG Ling Soo (W.E. Robinson, 1861 – 1918). Chung Ling Soo’s Gold Cufflinks. Circa 1914. A pair of 9-karat gold cufflinks owned and worn by the famed Chinese Conjurer Chung Ling Soo, each face decorated with Chinese characters for happiness and longevity within a patterned border, the toggles modeled on short pieces of bamboo and connected to the faces by three short links of gold chain. Faces approximately ¾ x 5/8” at widest points. Accompanied by a letter of provenance bearing pencil-rubbed images of the cufflinks, stating “these oval gold cuff-links … were the property of WILLIAM ELLSWORTH ROBINSON a.k.a. CHUNG LING SOO … and, it is believed, were taken from the shirt removed from his dressing-room after his fatal accident in March 1918. They were subsequently presented by his son, HECTOR ROBINSON, A.I.M.C. to LARRY BARNES … .” The letter is signed by both Hector Robinson and Larry Barnes, and is accompanied by Robinson’s business card and a photograph of Hector with Channing Pollock.